Chhattisgarh police bust gang planning to supply poor quality coal to NTPC

Chhattisgarh police has busted a gang in Raigarh district that was allegedly planning to supply low-grade coal to the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

“The gang was engaged in exchanging a portion of high grade coal with the low grade after transporting it from different mines and supplying it to plants set up across the district,” Raigarh Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said. Seven persons have been arrested in connection with the incident, he added.

During the raid, carried out on a specific tip off, the police recovered 101.30 tonnes of mixed coal from the spot. Singh said the stocked coal was to be supplied to NTPC’s Lara plant.

Country’s largest state-run power producer is setting up a 4000-Mw power plant in Lara of Raigarh district. One unit of 800-Mw has already been commissioned. The company has been procuring coal from the neighbouring state to feed the plant.

The raid was conducted at Jai Bhole Coal depot in Delari village under Punjipathra police station area. Singh said preliminary investigation underlined the modus operandi of the gang that was transporting coal from the mines; exchanging a quantity with low grade and supplying to different plants.

Further investigation is expected to reveal how many companies were cheated by the supplier and how much coal was supplied to the NTPC.

The NTPC spokesperson could not be contacted for comments on the issue.